On Tuesday 27th October we held the launch for the Haunt anthology at the Royal Pump Room Museum in Harrogate. With a large audience in attendance Steve introduced the project, talking about the background to the idea. This was followed by readings of the work in the anthology from Steve, Becky, Jem Henderson, Richard Harries and Nick Stirk.

(Photos courtesy of Emma MacEwan)

We’re very grateful for the support from Harrogate Museums that has seen work from Haunt included in the Harrogate Stories exhibition, and enabled us to launch the anthology in a building so synonymous with Harrogate’s spatown.

During the performance we also showcased the photographs taken by Paul Floyd Blake for Haunt. These played behind the writers while they read, creating powerful juxtapositions with the poems and prose.

Paul Floyd Blake’s Haunt photos are currently on show at Bean and Bud in Harrogate.

The next event is on the 11th November in York. Steve and Becky will be performing work from Haunt at Speaker’s Corner in York, the regular spoken word night at The Golden Ball. Entry is £1, with open mic slots available.

I grew up in Harrogate
Affluent
My Dad was rich
A director of ICI
I went to Ashville College
A boarder
Though my home was in town I boarded

My mother died
Then within weeks a stepmother arrived
So fast
I was hurting still
Bewildered
Time passed
And I was not welcome home
Homeless in the holidays
So I went to friends
And relatives
Stayed with them

But then I left school
Grew up
Stayed with my sister for a while
But then
The time came to leave
Stand alone
Dad was now in Belgium
I was not welcome
Got jobs
In bars and hotels

Moved into a bed sit
On Stray Rein
It was dirty
Lonely
Awful
An old woman rented a room
Not a home to me
Not allowed to see her telly
Or sit and speak with her

Her dog shit in the bath
For which she charged ten shillings extra
The bath, not the faeces
She was not surprised by this
When I complained
The final straw
Was when she made me a coffee
(breakfast was included )
There was a dead spider floating on the top
She neither saw it
Nor cared

I gave notice and she tried to screw me
For an extra months rent
Even though
she knew I had nothing
And worked in a bar

It was a dreadful start
To my life as an adult
I left school looking to the future
Excited
Then this
I grew up in Harrogate

You can watch Richard read his poems about homelessness and bedsitland in Harrogate here

Richard Harries, ‘The Bard of Withernsea’ lived in Harrogate, Leeds and now in Withernsea. A performance poet, he has a one-man show around East Yorkshire, in cafes, charity events, older persons homes and at Holiday camps to children. His poems are varied including comedy, anecdotal life stories, children’s poems and historical ones.